Iced chai is delicious! But it's an expensive habit. I've been making my own lately for less than .50 per cup. You just simmer a chai tea bag for a few minutes in a small pot of water and milk, add sugar to taste, set it in the freezer to cool while you read facebook or something, and after about 8 minutes, pour over ice. Take that, summer doldrums.

2. Sonoma Smoked Olive Oil

I should've told y'all about this a long time ago, when we first received it as a gift from Andrew and AiLien at Mardi Gras time. This stuff is THE BOMB. Anything you use it on will be tastier and make you feel like a five-star chef. We started by using it as a bread dipping oil--it's perfect for that, because its smoky richness really shines through. Then I added a little to the wok when we were stir-frying pork and veggies--dear Lord! It was divine. Then I added about a teaspoon to the butter for scrambled eggs. Well! Truffle-butter eggs got nothin on smoked olive oil eggs! I just wish I'd known about it sooner. It's not cheap, but it will easily liven your cooking.

3. The Milk Bar, New Orleans

I happened to be scanning Facebook one day (haha) and saw that my friend Karon had eaten lunch at The Milk Bar the day before. Wha? What's a Milk Bar and how do I get some? Turns out, The Milk Bar serves some awesome po-boys at unbelievably good prices. Particularly scrumptious was Paul's roasted lamb with gravy (above). I'll definitely be writing more about this place after we sample a few more goodies.

4. NeoTV!

Paul and I got a surprise gift of an online streaming box for our TV last week! Now we can watch The Family Guy on a big screen, where it belongs! We've mostly been using this for Netflix and YouTube, but Hulu Plus is on it as well, if we decide we want to pay for that.